Our Team

Sherry Wallace

Director of MBA Admissions[Show More][Show Less]
Sherry is a double Tar Heel, having earned both a BA and MBA at UNC. Prior to her work in MBA Admissions, she worked in Chicago as an advertising executive at the Leo Burnett Company. This experience provided her with a strong foundation in marketing, consumer behavior and the CPG industry. She returned to North Carolina and transitioned her career to brand management on the Bubble Yum bubble gum brand and later as a marketing director for NBA HOOPS, SkyBox and other sports and entertainment licensed collectibles. Sherry is originally from Henderson, North Carolina, a small town about 60 miles northeast of Chapel Hill. She joined the MBA Admissions team in 1998.

Alison Jesse

Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions[Show More][Show Less]
Alison has been a member of the admissions team at UNC Kenan-Flagler since 1998. Before moving to Chapel Hill, she lived in Williamsburg, VA and worked in undergraduate admissions at The College of William & Mary for 12 years. Alison holds a BA in Philosophy from Grinnell College and an MA in German language and literature from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. A native of Alexandria, Virginia, Alison has lived and worked in Germany and Switzerland and travelled widely in Europe. She enjoys returning to Europe as the region manager and visiting familiar places. Recently, her wanderlust has taken her to Turkey and Israel, two new travel destinations. When not on the road or reading applications, Alison enjoys catching as many music events as possible in the Triangle, collecting pottery, and watching Carolina basketball. Alison has two children: Sam, a 2007 graduate of Middlebury College who lives in San Francisco and works for Google; and Ellie, a 2013 graduate of UNC–Chapel Hill working as a digital media strategist at The Richards Advertising Group in Dallas, Texas.

Lisa Beisser

Senior Associate Director of MBA Admissions[Show More][Show Less]
Lisa joined the Kenan-Flagler Admissions team in 2000. She is originally from the Boston area, but moved to Chapel Hill because her husband had fallen in love with the area when he was an MBA student at UNC (class of 1996). Now she’s a loyal Tar Heel and can’t imagine living anywhere else. Prior to UNC, Lisa spent most of her career in Management Consulting for Arthur D. Little, both in the U.S. and in Spain. She has also spent time living and traveling throughout Latin America and loves all things Spanish and Latin American. She has her undergraduate degree from Tufts University and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Her interests include aviation, fitness, and technology. While not at work, she spends most of her free time chasing her two young daughters around.

Shandra Jones

Associate Director of MBA Admissions[Show More][Show Less]
Shandra is originally from Alabama and relocated to North Carolina from New York in 2008, when she joined the MBA Admissions team at UNC. After graduating with a B.A. from Stanford University, she combined her interest in fashion, operations and business management as an Assistant Buyer at Limited Too. Next she spent five years managing both the research department and Human Resources functions for a preeminent legal search firm in Manhattan. While in New York, she counseled many pre-law professionals, volunteered as a college counselor to underprivileged high school students in Harlem through the Children’s Aid Society, and co-chaired one of Stanford’s alumni networks in New York City. Those experiences provided her with a great foundation in team and change management as well as pre-professional counseling. Shandra loves North Carolina and enjoys traveling the world to meet prospective students.

Brittany Craig

Assistant Director of MBA Admissions[Show More][Show Less]
Brittany has lived on both coasts, having called Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and the San Francisco Bay Area home at various times. She joined the MBA admissions team at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School in 2014, and is thrilled to add Chapel Hill to the list. Brittany holds a BA from Hampshire College and an MSW from the University of California, Berkeley. She began her career as a social worker in the California child welfare system and discovered her passion for college and pre-professional counseling while helping youth in foster care pursue higher education. She happily transitioned into the world of admissions, initially at the undergraduate level. Brittany has traveled widely in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as other parts of the world, and is excited about exploring local history wherever she may be. She’s having a great time getting to know Chapel Hill, and is always happy to offer recommendations to visiting prospective students. .

Barbara Ann Aversano

Campus Visit Manager & ASW Registrar[Show More][Show Less]
Barbara Ann began her career as a secretary in the oldest military sales representative firm in the United States, Julius Rothschild & Company, in their New York Office; and eventually coordinated the activities of a worldwide sales force of 40 salesmen, representing 125 brand-name companies to Exchanges, Commissaries and Ship’s Stores Afloat, which produced a revenue of 35 million yearly. After stints in their Norfolk, Virginia and Denver, Colorado offices, Barbara Ann left as Vice President of Human Services from their corporate headquarters in Oakland, California. Upon returning to New York, Barbara Ann spent five years as the Event Planner and Sales Manager for The Association of the Bar of the City of New York. In July of 2002, Barbara Ann headed south to join UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. In and around all of these activities, Barbara Ann practiced her craft learned from her degree from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and H.B. Studios in New York, appearing in numerous off-off-off Broadway productions and several major and independent films.

Leah Fuller

Communications Manager[Show More][Show Less]
Leah was born and raised in the mountains of North Carolina, but she bleeds blue (she says it’s genetic) and truly believes that Chapel Hill is “The Southern Part of Heaven”. Leah earned a BA and MS in Paleontology and worked for the NC Museum of Natural Sciences for many years before returning to academia as a communications specialist for university programs. She joined the UNC Kenan-Flagler’s full-time MBA Admissions team in 2014. She is an avid fan of Carolina basketball, enjoys gardening, baking, spending time with friends and taking advantage of all the great food and culture the Triangle has to offer..

Sharon Moore

MBA Student Services Manager[Show More][Show Less]
Prior to coming to the MBA Admissions office in 2005, Sharon worked as Office Manager in the Office of Entrepreneurial Studies at Kenan-Flagler for 3 years. Sharon’s duties include assisting applicants with questions and or issues with the application process, application volume data processing, and providing administrative support for fellowship and residency correspondence. Sharon earned a BS degree in Business Administration from Winston-Salem State University, and a MS degree in Adult Education from North Carolina A&T State University. Hobbies include reading and hanging out with her husband.

Phil Russell

MBA Student Services Assistant[Show More][Show Less]
Phil grew up in the Philadelphia area before earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and International Relations from Randolph-Macon College in Ashland, VA. Phil then moved to the DC-Baltimore area and worked for a Non-Profit on Capitol Hill. Phil then moved to North Carolina in 2008 to join UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School MBA Admission office as the Records Room Coordinator.